Taylor Swift is undeniably the biggest pop star in the world right now, her globe-conquering status most recently emphasised by the fact that she's playing sold-out shows at London's 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium this summer on her record-breaking The Eras Tour. Such a cultural behemoth is Swift, that the Pennsylvania-born singer/songwriter's omnipotence is filtering into unexpected places, such as into the consciousness of the world's biggest cult band, Phish. In a new interview with , vocalist/guitarist Trey Anastasio is asked to nominate the 'Best Taylor Swift song for Phish to cover', and fans of the Vermont jam band might be surprised to learn that this is a question that the band themselves have already considered, to the point of getting one particular song gig-ready last year.
“When we did seven nights at Madison Square Garden in 2023, we got so close,” Anastasio reveals. “The Eras Tour was just starting, and everyone was like, You have to do a Taylor Swift song. It kept coming up.
So we learned Welcome to New York [from Swift's 2014 album ]. “Now, that’s not my favorite of hers - I love a lot of her other stuff much better - but it was pretty good! We practiced it and had it ready, and we walked to the edge of the stage..
. then I was like, Naaaaaah. Mike [Gordon, Phish bassist] was sad that we bailed.
He was really into it.” While Phish might not be able to replicate the scale of Swift's success worldwide, their recent residency at the Sphere in Las Veg.
